This weeks Thursday Thoughts posts is devoted to my dirty kitchen. The other day I tweeted…

"I would rather have a dirty kitchen and a heathy diet the a crappy diet and a clean kitchen."

It was trying to make myself feel better becuase I didn’t feel like cleaning up before [...]]]>

This weeks Thursday Thoughts posts is devoted to my dirty kitchen. The other day I tweeted…

"I would rather have a dirty kitchen and a heathy diet the a crappy diet and a clean kitchen."

It was trying to make myself feel better becuase I didn’t feel like cleaning up before bed or should i say before I fell asleep on the couch. ;) I’m sure you know cooking your own meals, mostly from scratch does cause quite a mess. Especially if you are a sloppy cook like me. I swear I can’t stir a pot of sauce with having drippings all over my stove top.

Would it be easier to buy dinner in a box and pop it in the microwave or pick up the phone and get a pizza delivered? Sure. And I do that now and then but overall, day in and day out, I make an effort to cook for my family. That’s why I’m devoting this weeks Thursday Thoughts to eating at home.

• Let’s start with a blog post outlining 8 benefits of Eating at Home. The articles highlights saving money as the top reason which I totally agree with. It’s amazing how expensive eating out can be especially when you already bought groceries for the week and are simply too lazy to cook. Which is what usually what happens to me.
• In case money savings isn’t motivation enough just think.. do you REALLY know what your eating when someone else is cooking? ewe.
• If you take the leap to brave your own kitchen you may want to make sure it’s helping and not hurting your efforts.
• And I thought these tips to help stock a kitchen with healthy food while on a budget were wonderful.
• Ok, so you decided to eat at home, you’ve set and stocked your kitchen now you what do you cook? How about some help from a magazine I recently found and fell in LOVE with. Have you seen Clean Eating? So awesome! I want to work for these people! Such simple recipes using basic whole foods. Exactly my goal on GreenLiteBites.
• Since I’m on the food topic, as always, I’ll share my GreenLiteBites posts this week. First I made a new couscous salad on a whim and totally fell in love. Then I stuffed and baked some peaches, DIVINE! and tonight I ate a leftover Apple Chutney Turkey Burger for dinner. I guess you can say I’ve been having fruit cravings recently. ;)
• I’ve also been making progress on the FitBloggin’ planning. Reaching out to speakers, working on the schedule, and making buttons. I’m also happy to announce Jen and Mandy’s feature, Fit4FitBloggin’ which is going to be a ton of fun!
• Let’s see… other news…. Hmmmm… Oh! I recorded an "I Breastfeed because video" for the Ameda campaign. Click here to check it out but give it a second, for some reason it takes a bit for my video to load. I breast fed little guy for almost 8 months and I’m planning on doing it again with number 2. :) Maybe I’ll even re-record my long winded breast milk storage video. ;)

ok, I think that’s all I got in my tonight. I’m going to try to record a podcast tomorrow. I would have today BUT little was home from school so I took him to the Visionary Arts Museum instead. SO fun. :)

He had a blast!

We even shared the most AMAZING chocolate cake for a treat. :)

It was a great day.

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I’m not sure if I told you guys over here [...]]]> How is everyone doing?!? I have had the most amazing few days! I’ve been hanging out with the family and cooking up a storm! I don’t think there is any place I’d rather be then in my kitchen. Is that sad? Seriously, I’m obsessed.

I’m not sure if I told you guys over here on Roni’s Weigh but I’m working with ATHENOS all month on GreenLiteBites sharing feta cheese ideas. This is very exciting for me. First, I’m a little more confident that leaving the full time gig was the right decision. Second, it’s challenging me to get out of my comfort zone. I never buy feta cheese simply out of habit so I love being put in a position to try something new. Here’s what I came up so far…

I have 2 other ideas I haven’t posted yet. I tried to get ahead while having a few days off since I have work tomorrow. It’s going to be a busy month and I needed to set the tone today.

I decided on no early morning TV or Internet. One of those two things normally becomes a HUGE time suck for me. Instead I made a new Dance Around the House Mix and BLASTED it all morning…

(warning: There are some explicit lyrics in a few of these songs.)

• Woo Hoo by The 5.6.7.8′s
• Rock Lobster by The B-52′s
• I Got You (I Feel Good) James Brown
• Get up Offa That Thing – 20 All Time Greatest Hits! by James Brown\
• Ecstasy by Rusted Root
• Go, Go, Go by The Backyardigans
• Into Action by Tim Armstrong
• Sugarfoot by Black Joe Lewis & The Honeybears
• How You Like Me Now by The Heavy
• Respect by Aretha Franklin
• Walking On Sunshine by Katrina and the Waves
• Got My Mojo Working by Muddy Waters
• Shout by The Isley Brothers
• Peace Frog by The Doors
• I Like to Move It by will.i.am
• It Takes Two by Rob Base & DJ EZ Rock
• Say Hey (I Love You) by Michael Franti & Spearhead
• Jump by Kris Kross
• Fit But You Know It by The Streets
• Ghost of Stephen Foster by Squirrel Nut Zippers
• The Humpty Dance by Digital Underground
• Do Right by Jimmie’s Chicken
• United States of Whatever by Liam Lynch
• Jump In the Line by Harry Belafonte
• Poison by Bell Biv Devoe
• Everyday People by Sly & The Family Stone
• Love Shack by The B-52′s
• Crazy In Love by Beyoncé
• Jump, Jive an’ Wail by The Brian Setzer Orchestra
• Johnny B. Good by Chuck Berry
• Venus by Bananarama
• Go Daddy-O (Live) by Big Bad Voodoo Daddy
• Zoot Suit Riot by Cherry Poppin’ Daddies
• Trendy by Reel Big Fish
• Sly – Two Shoes by The Cat Empire
• Bomb the Twist by The 5.6.7.8′s
• Jump Around by House Of Pain
• Blitzkrieg Bop by The Ramones

Note: Due to the Little Guy’s requests by far the most listened to tune of the day was I Like to Move it. :)

I’ll confess, dancing around the house cleaning is by far my favorite workout of all time. That and walking were my first steps on the exercise front. What can I say? Putting away dishes and vacuuming are loads more fun while doing the twist. Plus, you burn WAY more calories. ;)

After my disco morning the whole family went grocery shopping. I love when the husband comes along even though I always come home with more junk food. Thankfully it’s usually things I’m not that tempted by.

Once we got home we decided on an early dinner since we skipped lunch. And for dessert we made these…

Angel food, strawberries and some whipped topping. You have to enjoy the little things, no? :)

We then settled in for a relaxing night and watched the original Karate Kid with little guy who was way less interested then the husband and I. Oh! Did I tell you we signed Ryan up for Tae Kwon Do? I’ll have to take a pic in his uniform. He’s so stinkin’ cute! and he loves it!

Watching him is giving me an itch to try something new, like a women’s self defense or even an adult karate class. It just looks so fun! But I’m going to wait until next year after the marathon. Speaking of, I may be revisiting my training schedule based on some great feedback I’ve been getting. I’ll post the final one when I have it all down and I hope to keep track online. It always helps me, as you can tell. :)

So that’s about it. I took it easy these last few days, got things accomplished and had not only a great weekend and a Sensational Sunday but a Marvelous Monday! My workout clothes are on and I’m planning an early morning at the gym before heading to work after a good night’s sleep. As soon as this is posted I’m heading to bed. I refuse to stay up too late yet again, eat my way through a Dorrito’s bag and then wake up tired and yucky. That’s what I did last night. bleh.

Oh! and I’m working on my Tweet Eat Post tool. I think I may still have a bug but it’s working to pull today’s food journal. So far so good…

Table provided by Roni’s Food Tweet, Eat, Post Generator.Follow Live @RonisFood

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As I say in my GreenLiteBites post, last night I cooked for myself. After work I hit a yoga class so I was late getting home. I let the boys fend for themselves and then relaxed in the kitchen experimenting with some quinoa and bell peppers. The result? What you see above.

Click here for the whole-wheat apple pancake recipe we made up today!

However! After the little guy went to [...]]]> First let me confess. I ate out last night. *hangs head is shame* I couldn’t, no that’s not right, I didn’t, resist the husband’s request to go out. Once it was mentioned to the child there was no going back. I succumbed to the family pressure. *sigh*

However! After the little guy went to bed I completed week 2 day 2 of my crazy challenge and let me tell you it’s kicking my arse! I was sweaty and sore after all the push ups, sit ups and squats! I’m glad I’m doing this as my workouts, including running, are taking a hit with all that’s been going on.

Ok, let’s move on to the links!

• First, another one of my articles was published on the You.Propelled community. This one I cleverly called The Real Secret to Weight Loss, I reveal (surprise surprise) what I think the real secret to weight loss is. Don’t forget while you’re there to enter a daily proclamation for your change to win not only $5000 but weekly $100 dollar drawings as well. I’m proud to be working with Propel® as a sponsor of the You.Propelled program.
• Next let’s talk about food, shall we? :) I love this list on Cooking Light about 10 foods that sound healthy but aren’t. It’s amazing how many things are misconstrued. The one that bugs me the most is the "wheat" bread. Just because it’s brown does not make it healthy. I see this all the time with my friends that buy wheat bread that’s not 100% whole wheat bread. I’m on a mission to get everyone to read labels!
• Also in the FOOD department (can you tell what I’ve had on the brain lately) there are two recipes in the blogoshere that caught my attention (or well brought to my attention. Honestly I can’t remember.) First is Pizza Stuffed Peppers. It has pizza in the title, ’nuff said. The second is Quinoa Chili that looks so darn tasty! Just in time for comfort food season!
• Some food ideas I worked on this week, Salmon Cakes and Sweet and Sour Peppers. These were the result of my effort to cook more while still being in the temporary housing situation. I proved to myself it is possible to cook good food anywhere but I’ve been so bogged down with the new house, moving, and being in a temporary state that I really wasn’t in the right mind set these last few weeks. I really think I’m more excited to feel stable then moving into the house itself. I just want a permenant living situation with dressers for clothes. That’s all. That’s not too much to ask for is it? LOL ;~P
• I also started a series on SkinnyMinnyMedia about CSS. I’ve been working with so much CSS at work I was inspired to finally start the series I had considered months ago. If you blog and want to learn a little more about coding please stop by and let me know any specific questions you may have.
• Finally, I’ll leave you with a video I found on YouTube. I believe it was posted by a home-based business which I find shady BUT the video is very motivational. It really made me even think more about the things people told me. :)

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Ok, so just a FEW words… these shots were taken this morning before I left for work. The waffles were pulled from the freezer, I made them with homemade Banana Pancake batter a few days ago. The melon is our Santa Clause melon from this weeks video and I threw in a hard [...]]]>

Ok, so just a FEW words… these shots were taken this morning before I left for work. The waffles were pulled from the freezer, I made them with homemade Banana Pancake batter a few days ago. The melon is our Santa Clause melon from this weeks video and I threw in a hard boiled egg (made like this) for protein. See… breakfast can be healthy AND fast EVEN though the house is a mess and half of your belongings are boxed up and in the living room. Let’s just hope I can only keep this up! I don’t want to turn to the dark side and hit the Dunkin’ Donuts drive through like the husband. His breakfast of choice… 3 chocolate frosted donuts… ugh! how come he’s not 300 lbs?!? ;~P

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I am a newbie to WW and while I’m eating whole grain cereal I would love to find a way to love oatmeal :) I think it would keep my full longer however I just can’t get myself to like it! I feel I’ve tried it a couple of different ways and it [...]]]>

Dear Roni

I am a newbie to WW and while I’m eating whole grain cereal I would love to find a way to love oatmeal :) I think it would keep my full longer however I just can’t get myself to like it! I feel I’ve tried it a couple of different ways and it seems to be a texture/consistency issue. Is there a way I haven’t tried that will make ME love oatmeal? I know it would be a better choice for me… HELP!

-Katie

Hi Katie!

I love this question! You’re enthusiasm to try something new and like it despite not liking it is hysterical to me. I can tell you are trying so hard to make better choices and that’s SO AWESOME!

I’m a recent oatmeal lover. It wasn’t until I started making oatmeal for the toddler (when he was a baby) that I even had an interest in it. For some reason when I was feeding him his baby oatmeal the smell just seemed appetizing. I’m not sure why. It never did before. So I purchased some Quaker Weight Control Instant Oatmeal Cinnamon. I’ve always been a cinnamon girl, so why not?

Well, I found it to be alright. If I made it thicker by using less water it was better. I’m definitely NOT a fan of soupy oatmeal. Then one day I put apple sauce in it and fell in love. I called it Apple Pie Oatmeal and it was my gateway oatmeal dish. :)

At that time it was really the only way I ate oatmeal. Then I bought one of these canisters of "Quick Oats". Funny thing was I really didn’t know what to do with it. So I made things with the oatmeal instead of making oatmeal, like

• 100% Whole Grain Pancakes
• Turkey Meatballs
• Salisbury Steak, even
• Simple Onion Turkey Loaf

It became my filler over traditional white breadcrumbs. I found that using it with ground turkey especially helped the lean meat stay moist.

All this is probably not helping you Katie. Sorry, sometimes I get side track. :) I did start experimenting with others way to use oatmeal for a more traditional breakfast. Especially because I didn’t want to be dependent on the packets that were more expensive and choc full of stuff my body didn’t really need. So I made up my owned flavored options like…

• Creamy Berry Oatmeal
• Pumpkin Pie Oatmeal
• Green Tea Oatmeal with Dried Fruit and Almonds
• Berry-licious Pomegranate Oatmeal

Recently I decided to move up the oatmeal latter to "Rolled Oats" also known as "Old Fashioned" oats. Making… Old Fashioned Blueberry Oatmeal and my new Homemade Apple Pie Oatmeal to replace the kind made with instant.

Now, if you just can’t get past the oatmeal texture in the traditional sense, there’s always muffin form! Try Berry Oatmeal Cups or my personal favorite, Banana Oatmeal Cups with Chocolate Chips.

My next step is brave the world of Steel Cut Oats. In case you are wonder about the different types of oatmeal this is taken from WHFoods…

• Steel-cut oats: featuring a dense and chewy texture, they are produced by running the grain through steel blades that thinly slices them.
• Old-fashioned oats: have a flatter shape that is the result of their being steamed and then rolled.
• Quick-cooking oats: processed like old-fashioned oats, except they are cut finely before rolling
• Instant oatmeal: produced by partially cooking the grains and then rolling them very thin. Oftentimes, sugar, salt and other ingredients are added to make the finished product.

Popular belief is the Steel Cuts are the "best" as it is the least processed. I say you just need to start somewhere and it sounds like you’re trying!

In case none of my oatmeal ideas sounds appetizing check out these awesome ideas from around the blogosphere…

• Multi-Grain Oatmeal
• Alanna’s Peanut Butter Oatmeal
• Baked Banana Oatmeal
• Best-Ever Oatmeal Bread
• Oatmeal Expresso

I hope that gives you some ideas Katie. Thanks so much for your question!

-Roni

OK, who’s got other ideas for Katie?

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Topics in this video Include:

So the husband told me I should be writing Thursday Thoughts on Wednesday as no one reads them until Friday cause I post too late.

My response, "But I have the thoughts on Thursday so I write them on Thursday. Who cares when they get read anyway?"

"Then you should just [...]]]>

So the husband told me I should be writing Thursday Thoughts on Wednesday as no one reads them until Friday cause I post too late.

My response, "But I have the thoughts on Thursday so I write them on Thursday. Who cares when they get read anyway?"

"Then you should just call them Thoughts."

"But I have the Thoughts on Thursday. Plus I like the way it sounds."

"Whatever. It’s your blog."

EXACTLY! So here are this weeks Thursday Thoughts on Friday, again. :)

• I can’t remember if I told you guys how I actually collect the links for my "thoughts" post. I email them to myself all week and then on Thursday (*cough* – as in THURSDAYs thoughts) I look through the email, review the links and pluck the ones that I want to share. It works for me. The problem is I don’t generally take any notes so sometimes I can’t remember how I found the link or if someone sent it to me. That’s the case for this one. I have this great link to an article called How to Stop Making Excuses and Start Making Changes but I have no idea how found it. Regardless it’s a great post. Being somewhat of an excuse maker myself I appreciated the advice.
• As for excuses. I stopped making them with my running training this week and I’m feeling great on the workout front! Speaking of, have you guys seen the Physical Activity Pyramid? I never did but I think it’s pretty cool!
• Ok, no more excuses? check… More Activity? check…. What’s left? Ohhh yea! FOOD! How could I forget? This week I found the 10 Best Foods for your Heart according to Health.com. I love that little pictorial slideshow format, don’t you? Anyway… I was psyched as I don’t only eat all these foods but they are pretty much staples in my diet. Just recently learning to appreciate the avocado. :)
• Have you guys heard of the 3 Day Walk for Breast Cancer? Honestly, I didn’t until Elaine brought it to my attention and started the Breast Cancer 3Day Walkers with Robyn. To support my fellow BlogToLose’rs, I designed some shirts for them to wear on the walk. I’m also selling them to help raise money for the cause! Check out my post about them on BlogToLose and please spread the word if you feel so inclined! :)
• This week on RoniNoone.com I reached my 2 post a week goal! Writing 3 Twitter Tips for Twitter #newbies and Getting Readers/Increasing Traffic. I have to admit I’m having fun writing for SMM. It’s fun!
• As for GreenLiteBites I made up Taco-ish Soup with Couscous and Avocado, sweetened some pancakes with Pom Berry Sauce and experimented with Apple Bran Muffins. I also posted this weeks video, Taco Night! :)

Let’s see, other news? Ummmm not much! Do you believe it? I did record an Ask Roni today and should get it posted tomorrow. Other then that I have a product and book review in the works. Oh! and new, fun playlist on the way!

Right now I’m off to relax with the husband. I’m missing CSI!

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